Chicago's vibrant central core is a distinct advantage in today's competitive global economy; few other American cities have a downtown worth mentioning.

News that job growth in downtown Chicago continues to outpace hiring in other parts of our region is cause for celebration, not consternation. Yes, we need to do more to boost employment opportunities in areas that are lagging. But the entire metropolitan region benefits from the fast-accelerating downtown job market described in a just-released study.

For starters, strong job growth downtown helps restore economic balance across metropolitan Chicago. During the postwar era, a disproportionate share of jobs migrated from downtown to suburbia, including far-flung northern and northwestern burbs. Often located in isolated corporate campuses far from commuter train stations, these jobs were accessible only by car. That could mean an hour-plus commute from the city and the south and southwest suburbs, effectively putting the jobs out of reach for many.

Jobs in the urban center, by contrast, are within reasonable commuting distance from all points of the compass. City dwellers can take the el or a bus downtown, and suburbanites can get there by train. Thus, equalizing accessibility helps equalize economic opportunity around greater Chicago. At the same time, an expanding Loop is bringing badly needed jobs to hard-pressed West Side neighborhoods.

As jobs congregate in and around downtown, public transportation becomes a viable option for more workers, easing pressure on expressways. Increasing ridership, in turn, fosters efficient transportation infrastructure that generates more bang for the public buck. When larger numbers of people are traveling to the same area at the same time, planners can focus spending on those routes and hubs, rather than scattering tax dollars across myriad subregional highway projects. "We've been fortunate that so much job growth has been in the West Loop, where transit connectivity is good," says Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul University's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. "High-density employment patterns are a recipe for successful transit."

A strong downtown job market is good for business, too. In recent years, corporate executives have discovered the downsides of remote headquarters that keep the world at bay. Companies that dominated their industries for decades, including Motorola and Sears, fell behind after isolating themselves geographically.

Today companies are starting to understand the benefits of connection. They want to be in the flow of ideas. When businesses cluster together, a hothouse environment develops. Insights, inspiration and innovation crisscross organizational boundaries, helping everyone keep pace with change. That's why suburban stalwarts like McDonald's, Walgreens and Allstate have moved their headquarters downtown or established large satellite offices there.

Escalating competition for talent is another reason to move jobs downtown. Where suburban-based employers have limited appeal outside their geographic quadrants, downtown companies attract talent from across the region. And they have a big recruiting edge with sought-after young tech workers who often prefer an urban lifestyle. Workers also gain when jobs converge downtown. Career mobility becomes easier if changing jobs doesn't require a choice between two painful options: enduring a killer commute or moving the family from Lisle to Libertyville.

Along with these practical advantages, centralized employment produces an important intangible benefit. A sense of regional solidarity develops as workers converge on downtown from points north, west and south. Superficial distinctions between North Side and South Side, city and suburbs seem less important. As regional consciousness expands, more people come to understand and support solutions to regional challenges. A unified mindset also helps metropolitan Chicago bring all its resources to bear in a highly competitive global economy.

Chicago's vibrant central core is a distinct advantage in that competition; few other American cities have a downtown worth mentioning. And a thriving downtown sends strong ripples over the entire region, notes Don Haider, a professor who studies economic development at Northwestern University. "A rising tide in the city lifts the suburbs and everybody else," Haider says.